UPDATE: Editor Confirms Leo Wolinsky Out at 'L.A. Times'

By: E&P Staff Kevin Roderick at his popular www.LAobserved blog reported Monday on major new newsroom cuts at the Los Angeles Times -- and rumors that longtime associ Leo Wollinsky was on the way out. A day later, Editor Russ Stanton announced Wolinsky is indeed gone.

First, Roderick's initial report, then the Stanton annoucement.
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RODERICK:

This is a breaking situation this afternoon. Editors met over the weekend to get the word and to refine their lists. Newsroom staffers are being told today individually and in department meetings that as many as 75 editorial positions are being cut through voluntary departures and layoffs. Some staffers were approached last week about volunteering, "enticed" with the threat that this will be the absolute final time that editorial employees will receive two weeks severance pay for each year of service when they leave. When new publisher Eddy Hartenstein took over in August, right after the last round of deep cuts, he was asked repeatedly about the prospect of new layoffs, and according to a first-hand report I passed along then:

The question of more layoffs was posed in half a dozen different ways and he said he hadn't been given a target number for the staff, that Sam Zell told him to run the place, etc., etc. He did say (as did Mark Willes and Sam Zell) that we can't cut our way to prosperity....

My sources say the newsroom staffing level is headed to about 650, but I don't know if that includes the decimation of the Washington bureau expected by many there after the November election. Associate Editor for features Leo Wolinsky is holding a meeting with his staff shortly amid strong rumors that he is leaving. Stay tuned.

STANTON:

For 31 years, Leo Wolinsky has served the Los Angeles Times and its readers with integrity, pride and a deep devotion to this community and to the craft of journalism. At one point or another, he has worn seemingly half the titles in the newsroom: reporter, assistant bureau chief in Sacramento, city editor, Metro editor, managing editor, executive editor, associate editor. And for the better part of a decade, Leo shaped Page One, bringing his steady news judgment and knowledge of California to bear on thousands of stories.

This spring, I asked Leo to move to the Features department to bring some much-needed stability to a crucial part of our newsroom. He accepted the assignment with his characteristic dedication, made a number of immediate improvements, and won over colleagues who were skeptical that a career hard-news guy would care about Features.

In the months since, I became convinced that the organizational structure which has prevailed in Features for several decades needed to change, so that our coverage in this multimedia world could improve and evolve. It is fair to say that Leo and I did not agree on the best way to accomplish this, leading to the difficult decision that he will be leaving The Times.

Over the years, Leo has made contributions to our readers, to this newsroom and to his colleagues that are too numerous to count. He has served ably, conscientiously and indefatigably, and for that work The Times and our readers owe Leo tremendous gratitude.